Musicians and audiences can't get enough of the raging, thick, crushing, saturated, overtone-filled thump of a clipping audio signal. Turn on any popular song, and there is bound to be some distortion, overdrive, fuzz or boost added to an instrument.

Today's distortion effects are a far cry from the days when most distortion was accidental. The low wattage of early amplifiers made it easy to distort a signal -- your tone became an out-of-control harmonic monster by just cranking up the amp's volume. Musicians immediately liked what they heard. This high-gain sound eventually became so popular that early electric guitarists would even slash their amps' speaker cones to make their sound as roaring as possible.

Luckily for your speakers, the brightest minds in music were able to create portable and sonically versatile effects pedals. zZounds' exclusive Distortion Effects Buying Guide will help you choose the perfect distortion, overdrive, fuzz, or boost pedal to give you the exact kind of distorted tones you're looking for.

Distortion and overdrive pedals compress your signal's peaks, loading it up with harmonics by sending it through one or more stages of clipping. There are a number of components that can crush and thicken your signal, each with their own unique tones and abilities.

Distortion pedals affect your signal at any volume level. This makes them perfect for switching between clean and high-gain sounds, or playing at a low volume. Their versatility in creating everything from smooth textures to highly saturated metal tones make them a essential part of your effects chain.

Overdrive pedals add distortion to your audio signal by mimicking the effect of cranking up the volume of tube amps. This soft clipping produces warm, harmonically-dense tone that is affected by the signal's gain level -- the higher the level, the nastier the overdrive.

Modern distortion and overdrive effects pedals have varied designs that offer even more crunchy, harmonically-dense tones. Features like multiple bands of EQ, adjustable tone filters and layering of distortion let players dial in the most customizable distorted, overdriven tones yet.

With distortion and overdrive pedals so popular -- even essential to your signal chain -- manufacturers have committed themselves to building affordable distortion and overdrive effects. These red-hot distortion and overdrive pedals will open up your tone -- and at under $100, save you money on your journey to saturation salvation.

The fuzzed-out tones of guitarists in the '60s were some of the most memorable and influential in popular music -- and they were often created with fuzz pedals. These first fuzz pedals created a buzzing, rumbling effect that was quickly embraced by some of the most legendary players, letting them push their sound into uncharted tonal territory.

Boost pedals became popular in the quest to make a more transparent, but still powerful-sounding tone, after the first fuzz pedals had been dirtying up guitars for a few years. Boost effects overdrive your signal by boosting the gain of the signal enough to overload your amp's tubes. This takes your tone from 10 to 11, making boost pedals perfect for accentuating lead lines or thickening up your rhythm sound with their complex yet natural tone.

Players consistently demand the dense, harmonically rich tones of the classic fuzz and boost pedals heard in the most popular and influential recordings and performances. Their tones and sonic ferocity are unmistakable, and continue to influence today's modern sounds.

There is hardly enough fuzz or boost to keep musicians happy, and these pedals continue to advance and update the classic fuzz and boost sounds. With advanced circuitry, improved reliability, and humongous tone, modern fuzz and boost pedals offer the perfect blend of insanity and discipline to impress the biggest fuzz and boost tweakers.

Boost pedals and fuzz pedals are essential to crafting the thick and textured tones of classic songs. With tons of features and rich tone, these pedals will add plenty of texture to your sound for under $100.

A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.

A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.

1. zZounds offers the industry‘s most musician-friendly payment plans

zZounds offers a variety of Play as you Pay® installment plans that allow you to get the gear you want today. While our competitors might offer house credit cards that require you to fill out an application and pass a credit check, our payment plans are easy to get, simple to use, and, best of all, accrue zero interest. Unlike those house credit cards that can leave you vulnerable to exorbitant interest charges once the promotional period ends, we never have and never will charge interest when you take advantage of one of the zZounds Play as you Pay® plans.

2. zZounds guarantees the lowest price

Seen it for less somewhere else? Get it for less at zZounds. Simply click the “Seen it for less?” link on any product page and as long as we‘re not losing money, we‘ll beat any legitimate competitor‘s lowest price, usually within two hours. Want our best price even faster? Call us at 844-zZounds (844-996-8637), and we‘ll provide you with a lower price on the phone. Also, if you purchase from us and later find the product for less elsewhere, call or email us within 45 days, and we‘ll refund you the difference.

3. Nobody Beats zZounds‘ Fast & Free Shipping

At zZounds, we know you want your gear fast, and shipped to you free of charge. That‘s why we have absolutely free ground shipping on every single order shipped within the continental United States. This includes heavy and oversized items. No minimum purchase required. No exclusions. We also ship over 90% of our orders with FREE 2-day shipping. We pull it all off with our strategically placed, coast-to-coast warehouses.

4. zZounds makes returns super easy

Buy it, try it, like it, or return it to us for a full refund. It‘s just that simple. If you‘re not in love with what you bought, return it to zZounds within 45 days, and we‘ll promptly arrange for an exchange or a refund. No hassles. No hidden charges. And if a product‘s defective or damaged, call us at 844-zZounds (844-996-8637), and we‘ll email you a prepaid shipping label so you can easily return it to us at zero cost to you.

5. zZounds delivers top-rated customer service

zZounds has received multiple Bizrate® Circle of Excellence Platinum awards, placing us in the top 0.7 percent of Bizrate‘s network of 5,200 retailers. Our success in meeting the needs of our customers -- since 1996, we‘ve satisfied over 1,000,000 people -- is due in large part to the fact that zZounds only hires experienced musicians to answer your calls and emails, and they are never paid a commission.